The Life of Philip Ludwell, America’s First Convert to Orthodoxy
Philip Ludwell III, the first American convert to Orthodoxy. Credit: Public Domain
On December 29, 1716, a remarkable man was born in the Tidewater of Virginia. Fated to become America’s first Orthodox convert, Philip Ludwell III experienced many traumas which may have created in him a deep philosophical bent very early on in his life.
Nothing is known of Ludwell’s childhood except that the young, impressionable boy lost his father at eleven years of age and experienced the loss of his mother, Hannah, when only fifteen.
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After completing his education at the College of William and Mary, Philip was married to Frances Grymes at her family’s home, Morattico, also in the Tidewater area of Virginia.